THE House Committee on Higher and Technical Education chaired by Rep. Mark Go (Lone District, Baguio City) on Monday approved the consolidation of four (4) bills that would institutionalize skills training and provide job opportunities to inmates in detention facilities.
These are House Bills (HBs) 4761, 5020, 5661 and 7493, authored respectively by Reps. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. (1st District, Manila), Gus Tambunting (2nd District, Parañaque City), Eduardo ‘Bro. Eddie’ Villanueva (Party-list, CIBAC) and Keith Micah ‘Atty. Mike’ Tan (4th District, Quezon).
“The primary goal of our correctional system is the rehabilitation of offenders in the hopes that after serving their sentence, they can be productive members of our society,” said Rep. Dionisio in the explanatory note of HB 4761.
Rep. Tan, author of HB 7493, agreed, adding that “With employable skills, they (inmates) can find new life when they leave detention.”
The committee also approved, subject to style and amendment, the substitute bill to HB 969 “strengthening the Mindanao State University System and appropriating funds therefor.” The bill was filed by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City).
Likewise, the panel approved HB 7155, authored by Rep. Roy Loyola (5th District, Cavite), seeking to convert the Eulogio ‘Amang’ Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) – Cavite Campus in the Municipality of General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite, into a regular campus to be known as the EARIST-Cavite Campus, and appropriate funds therefor.
